Plenty of Bangs and No Whimpers: Police Story 2

Synopsis: After the high-flying action of the first Police Story (1985), Jackie Chan returned to the role of Chan Ka Kui in the sequel. This time, the policeman finds himself front and center for a pair of seemingly unrelated cases that weave around one another. First, Chu Tao (Yuen Chor) the villain from the first film is released from prison and decides to make life difficult for the man who ruined his life. His henchmen pick fights with Chan, intimidate/assault his girlfriend May (Maggie Cheung) and her aunt (Chaio Chiao), and even goad Chan into attacking them in a restaurant. Meanwhile, some crazy people are hiding bombs around the city. A shopping mall, an office building, and more are put under the gun when the robbers make demands and use May as a way to get Chan to do their bidding. Once more, Jackie Chan wears director and co-writer hats while also starring as the action hero in Police Story 2 (1988).

DANIEL’S TAKE

Sequels often rely on the successes and innovations of the first installment to do all the heavy lifting. The charm of a sequel for audiences is to revisit some beloved characters and maybe see them doing the same thing they were doing before with a little more oomph and a little more money. The lure of the sequel for production companies is a built-in audience interested in shelling out money to see already beloved characters doing similar things while also bringing their friends along for the ride. This is the secret of so many movies with Roman Numerals or other designations.

Not so, the story with, ahem, Police Story 2. Sure, we get a return of a villain from the first flick. We get the heroic cop (busted to traffic duty following his excesses and lack of judgment in the previous flick’s finale), his long-suffering girlfriend, and a blend of comedy and crazy-creative action. However, there’s a more serious tone to some of the proceedings, as well. The bombing subplot is handled with consideration. Some jokes arise when it’s introduced as a way to bid a big, farewell to that mall where climactic action took place in the previous movie, but in general this plotline is played straight. Any action movie disciple will tell you that explosions are a cool thing to see, and the pyrotechnics are impressive, but the costs associated with them are bandied about, both in terms of human lives and monetary.

Jackie Chan is again a charmer, though some of his character’s rougher edges have been sanded down. The actor blends comic timing, unbelievable levels of charm, and crazy levels of determination to see these stunts done well. This is the movie where he leapt off a bus, aiming for a sugar glass window and ended up smashing through an all too real one. Yeeouch!

Maggie Cheung is given more to do here. Some of that involves being a hostage, which is less interesting, but she also gets to do some action scenes of her own. She’s got quite the range, and all aspects are on display here.

The adversaries are a rogues’ gallery of organized and disorganized baddies, folks with vendettas against Chan himself or against big businessmen. A lot of these are present for jolts of adrenaline, well shot martial arts action scenes that pit an overwhelmed hero against a gaggle of baddies. Some of them leer from afar, until it’s their moment to square off, and at least one performs a character flip before his end. This stuff has an operatic quality.

One of the more intriguing of the bomber gang is Gabby (Keung-Kuen Lai), a deafmute who first appears like a victim and soon reveals he is both a brilliant demolitions worker as well as a cunning martial artist. He is one of those villains who hands Chan’s ass to him, who beats up the cops with childish glee. We want to see him lose, but it’s fun to watch his little triumphs along the way to that inevitable finale. Dude throws little firebombs as part of his attack strategy, to throw off his adversaries. Of course, the old adage about playing with fire comes to pass for him. He deserves what he gets, of course, being a little too sadistic to be sympathetic.

The cinematography is credited to two people this time around: Tiu-Tsou Cheung and Y-Tang Li. The movie does have a different look for the most part than the first. We still get wide angles with occasional close, focused intercuts for the fight scenes, but something about the colors, the lighting, and the camera movements is different than the first.

On the action front, there are quite a few set pieces worth seeing. Two of them remain fixed in my head as must see: There’s a terrific fight scene in a playground that makes use of kid toys and installations in wildly brilliant ways. Here, Chan moves like he sweats grease, sliding into and out of position, always on the defensive, always outnumbered and yet always triumphant. Then, there is the finale in a foundry building, where Chan and Cheung face off with the bomber gang. It’s a medley of incident and action as one opponent after another squares off against one or both of the characters. It’s a clear inspiration on those old button mashing video games, though this flick makes much better use of the area and space. As we might expect, Jackie Chan is not content to feature people pummeling one another when there are stairs to climb, bars to slide though, big blue tubs of unknown heavy materials to throw or dodge around. Even when the camera is stationary, there’s always multiple things moving on screen. Bodies and backgrounds and environments, oh my!

And writing that, I suddenly recall a restaurant fight scene, which is brilliantly choreographed. And then there’s—

But I digress.

Whereas the first Police Story was a celebration of life and action, the sequel is much more of a crime themed actioner. YMMV, of course, but for me the movie lacks a little of the heart of the original. It’s all great fun to watch, but with two plotlines vying for the protagonist’s attention, it becomes far more difficult for small but beautiful moments to compete. Those little bits were what made the first film so memorable and entertaining for Trista and me. This absence is almost invisible during the watch. It only arises afterwards, during conversation and consideration that the absence is best reflected upon.

That said, Police Story 2 remains an effective and engaging thrill ride, complexly plotted and alternately serious or funny in the best Jackie Chan tradition. While the actor has gone on to star and/or direct many other projects in his career, the Police Story movies are some of the most innovative and long lasting features in his oeuvre (the series has seen numerous sequels, spinoffs, and reboot attempts in the 35 years since it started). It’s hard to top such brilliance.

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Police Story 2 is available in DVD, Blu-ray, and streaming editions. The second half of the Criterion Collection 2-disc release, the image pops, the sound is great (including the original mix), and the bonus features are as solid as CC enthusiasts have come to expect.

It wasn’t intended to be a foursome of feel good flicks for the month of January, but it sure turned out that way. Next month, we kick off a monthlong consideration and appreciation of some highlights from African American horror and suspense genre cinema. First up is Sugar Hill (1974), a terrific feature pitting one vengeance minded woman against the white boys who murdered her man. It’s campy, it’s cool, and it has an unforgettable Baron Samedi. The movie is available in DVD, Blu-ray, and streaming editions.

“Plenty of Bangs and No Whimpers: Police Story 2” is copyright © 2021 by Daniel R. Robichaud. Poster and still image taken from IMDB.

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